moab pictures day 1

OK, I know I am way behind on the blog but I will hopefully get it up to date this weekend!! We are back in the ATL but life is still crazy! Here a few pictures from our first day in Moab with the Rover event. Keep checking the blog early next week and I will have them all up for viewing! Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmiles69/GbrAndMoabRimTrailPicturesSept17th2008#

pictures of Whistler

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmiles69/MoabInjuryWhistlerNight1Day202#

Enjoy pictures of my crash damage, Whistler, and yes Christina!!

TGIF Whistler

Friday morning 8am. If we were any where other than Whistler I wouldnt even get up. But we did go to the opposite coast line and to another country just to ride our bikes so we got our dragging asses out of bed and into the shower! First stop is Summit bike shop http://www.summitsport.com/main/ to pick up our rental bikes. We decided to rent the Rocky Mountain Flatline Pro .http://www.bikes.com/main+en+01_102+Flat_Line_Pro.html?BIKE=40#2 The bike turned out to be a really good bike to ride. All of us were very happy with it. We jumped on the lift and headed up for our first run on B-line trail. It was rediculous!!!! All we did the whole way down was laugh!! This place is unbelievable! Could it get any more fun? We rode all day until I couldn’t even hold on to the handle bars! After the oh so necessary shower we started wandering through the center of the village looking for a place to eat. Most places to eat are very expensive. We did find a really good restaurant called “Earls”.
http://www.earls.ca/LocationList/Earls_Whistler.htm
Now the real reason we decided on this place had nothing to do with their food menu but more on the unspoken man menu!!!! You know the one……The one married men can read but not order from!!! This menu consisted of long blonde spaghetti and fruitful melons…..big ones!!!! Check out the pictures of miss Christina! She was very pleasant and the boys loved her!! Oh and the food was excellent!! We would definitely recommend it! After dinner we did a bit of window shopping and headed back to our condo for a good nights sleep. ;o)

Thursday...Off to Salt Lake we go

Well this morning started at 6a.m. I thought I was on vacation!!! We got up and got the truck loaded on the trailer and headed for Salt Lake. The Famous Great Basin Rovers is our Destination. For those of you reading this that are not into Land Rovers, Bill and His Daughter Shawn have been doing the rover thing forever!! If you own and have wanted to modifiy your truck you have probably talked to Bill. He is the guy to talk to when it comes to Drive train mods. And my favorite thing about Bill and Shawn both is they will take the time to educate you on what is good for your truck. He is not just trying to sell ya something. Check em out. http://www.greatbasinrovers.com/ Ok so we did the 5 hour run up to Salt Lake with no real issues. We were a little short on time when we got to Great Basin so we didnt have alot of time to oogle all over Bills collection of Series rovers. That will be on Monday afternoon when we get back!! Shawn dropped us off at the airport then the drama started!! As we tried to go through security Dez quickly learned about the rules of what you can and can not take on the plane! No liquids over 3.4 oz. As approx. 300 dollars worth of stuff was about to get thrown away we decided to go check our bag!! Dez then Played OJ as she ran through the airport only to find out we had plenty of time until our flight. The flight was smooth and next we were in Seattle. With a little time on our hands due to a lay over we decided to get massages!! Yah thats nice!! Finally we arrived in Vancouver. We met up with our friend Bo and next we went to find a place to eat dinner. We ended up a"Hells Kitchen" Cool place to eat. After our quick run into town we had to go back to the airport to meet the rest of our friends Chris, Dean and Julian. Finally we all pile into the expedition xl rental and head for Whistler. 3:15am our journey has ended and we crashed out! Ah the sound of snoring!!

Pictures!!!

Rather than upload pictures on each blog(taking way to long...hence not a olt of pics so far) I am posting some web albums. check out ;o)

http://picasaweb.google.com/lmiles69/MoabSept9th2008TheWholeEnchiladaTrail#

National Rally link

http://www.landrovernationalrally.org/home.aspx

This link has the schedule of events and trails for the rally. check it out.

Wednesday...a day of rest!

Waking up feeling a bit like worn, we decided to take it easy and get ready for the next big part of the trip.........I forgot to tell ya about this.......We are on our way to Whistler BC for 3 days of Downhill mountain biking!!!! We washed all the dead bugs off the trucks, did laundry and packed our bags. We also went back to poison spider bike shop to see about a permanent fix for my rear brake lever. These guys rock!!! One of the guys who worked there happen to have an old spare Master Cylinder that matched mine. He went home and got the MC and gave it to me free. I offered to pay something for it but he said he was glad he could help and told me to put my money away! that is too cool!!! Thanks to him I will get several more rides in next week when we come back. We also checked out chilipepper bikes http://chilebikes.com/ and Moab Cyclery http://www.moabcyclery.com/ . Both these bikes shops were also very cool with a great staff and plenty of cool stuff to buy!! It really comes down to the brand of bike you ride. We also spent part of the afternoon checking out the various shops along main st. Dinner was at Pasta Joes. Lasagna!! Yum! Finally we snuggled up together for our final night in our little house on the Moab prairie!! Tomorrow we head for Salt Lake city and Great Basin Rovers. Then off to BC
Good night! ;o)

Tuesday..The Whole Enchilada!?

This morning started like most but the day was nothing like most!! 9:30 am we hop aboard the Pioson Spider shuttle van with a group of 7 other bikers. We are heading for the Burro Pass trail in the La Sal mountains. This is approx. 1 hour ride from Down town Moab. This is the start of the trail ride called "The Whole Enchilada" http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/enchilada.htm
This ride goes something like this: You start by getting dropped off on Geyser pass road (10,400 ft above sea level!! having trouble breathing just reading about it?!) next you ride approx. 1/2 mile to the start of the ascent!! You try to ride up approx. another 1/2 mile to the official start of the Burro pass trail. We could only make it a couple hundred feet at a time and we had to stop because our hearts were trying to jump out of our chests!! Once we reached the official start we continue our torturous climb 1.2 miles up to 11,600 ft. It is now 40 degrees and a mixture of snow and rain is falling!! We are tired and cold!! Power bar time. We now start our descent back to town. We are still approx. 26-36 miles from moab depending on the route you take back. I forgot to mention that I forgot my gloves!! This is an important part of the story! On the way down the first few miles of the Burro trail my frozen hand slips of my wet grip and over the front of the bike I go!! In the crash I broke the rear brake lever and manage to smash my face on a rock even though I had a full face helmet on!! This left me with a nice cut between my eyes.......nice!! I also dug a dime side chunk of skin out of my left palm. What a way to start a long ride. Lucky for me Dez had supplies and we fixed up my hand and headed on down to Warner Lake. The Trail and scenery is like no other. This trail ride was worth the trip all by itself!!! Next we buzzed through the Hazard county trail were we met some very nice people with the forestry service. They gave us some sandwichs and Gatoraid. The also helped me Mcgiver my rear brake. Thanks to these guys and gals we were now fueled up and ready to ride the rest of the trail. On the way down the Kokopelli trail we meet up with some locals who took us on two other trails which are not part of the normal ride. These 2 eventually meet up with LPS(lower procupine singletrack) trail and then to Porcupine rim trail. The views on these triails are unreal. At various points of the trail you are literally 2 feet from the rim of the canyon! Just dont look over the edge! I mean Holy SH*T!!! Its amazing!! By this time (5:30pm) we are running out of day light.(2.5 hours until dark) Now on Porcupine rim trail we headed 3 miles back towards sand flats rd. This part of the trail we were actually going backwards. It was super rocky but really fast and fun. Sand flats road takes you approx. 9 miles back to town. We arrive in town at 7:34 pm. First stop in town was the Slickrock Cafe http://www.slickrockcafe.com/ for food and beverage! We shared our story with Hanna the bar tender and had a great meal. Be sure to check them out it you are in town. Finally back in Moab we retrieved our truck from pioson spider bike shop and headed for bed. I final word............ EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude.... were in MOAB!!

Man...Talk about being tired! After a total of approx. 36 hours on the road getting up wasnt easy!! We got up around 9am and walked out of our cabin to a great view. Moab is in a valley. We didnt really see this when we came it(late night) so it was quite the site! The other interesting thing about of the morning was realizing that our camp ground in in the middle of town right on Main st.(behind a gas station)!! We unloaded the Discovery from the trailer and brought the rest of our stuff in the cabin. now it is time for Breakfast and exploring the town. The Moab Diner http://moabdiner.com/ treated us to a great breakfast. I added my own flare to the meal by spilling my coke all over it!! Ooops! After breakfast we headed up main st. toward Poison spider bike shop http://www.poisonspiderbicycles.com/. We wanted to check out the mountian bike scene in town. What a cool scene it is. We meet TJ and he filled us in on the trails and how to get to them. I needed a part for my bike(specialized) so we next headed for the local Specialized dealer, Rim Cyclery http://www.rimcyclery.com/bikes.htm These guys had the part I needed and completed a few repairs to Dez's bike as well. Depending on the brand you prefer both shops could get you what you needed and keep you out on the trail. Next we headed back to the cabin to suit up in our bike gear and head for our first bike ride on the AMASA BACK trail http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/amassa.htm. It was getting late in the afternoon so we knew the ride would have to be short and fast. The view getting into the trail was amazing as well as the views from the trail its self. We just beat the sunset back to the truck!! The canyon is not the place to be stuck in the dark. It all looks the same, not to mention it gets cold quick! Temps dropped from the 90's to the 50's each day! Finally for this day we hit Zax's pizza http://www.zaxmoab.com/ for dinner. great pizza, and very friendly staff. ;o) bedtime!!

Sunday....light at the end of the canyon!

After a good nights sleep we had another hotel breakfast and hit the road. Wow more corn!!! Not a whole to see as you head across the middle of the country on I-70 west.Then suddenly we see it……well them…….The rocky mountains!!! They are quite impressive. We head through Denver then up and over the rockies. We had a little bit of drama here!! We notice that he mechanical fan on the engine is revving up. Next we notice the check engine light is on!! Panic!! We back off the pace and everything goes back to normal. I quess the truck didn’t really like going 70 through the mountains. Another thing about the rockies is the elevation. Dez and I both were getting lite headed. When we got on the other side we decided to pull over and have some lunch hoping this may help. We had some fine cuisine(wendys) and this did seem to help. We got back on the road and our next stop was Glenwoood springs. Glenwood springs is located on the west side of Glenwood Canyon. I must say passing through the canyon is pretty amazing. It is very beautiful. Glenwood springs is know for 2 things…It has a pool heated by a natural hot spring and it also has a spa containing “vapor caves” Well our friend Bo had told us of these magical caves…full of hippies giving massages for 5 bucks. We had to check this out! All the info on hippy central can be seen at www.yampahspa.com Well the caves do exist but the hippies left with cheap gas!! The massages were great but not 5 bucks and the vapor caves were pretty cool as well. Due to the time of the day we decided to get on the road and save the hot springs pool for the return journey. You can check out the pool at http://www.hotspringspool.com/Next stop MOAB!! After you pass through Grand Junction Colorado you reach Utah. Turn south on highway 191. The last 1.5 hours of our trip we didn’t see anything. I know what you are thinking…….its dark right?! Darkness wasnt the only reason for seeing nothing.....there was nothing around…not even a gas station. Make sure you have plenty of fuel!!! We rolled into Moab at 10:30 pm with only 22 miles of fuel left in the truck!! Close call. After the worst Denny’s breakfast ever we gassed up($4.59/gal) and found our cabin. http://www.canyonlandsrv.com/

Saturday....St. Louis and corn

We pull each other out of bed knowing we have a FULL day of driving ahead. Breakfast at the hotel was…….warm…….sufficient! We hit the road around 9am heading north on I-24 with St. Louis in our sights. Have you ever seen the arch? Man it is cool!! One problem… were do you park a 45ft rig? Well we found a place surrounded by no parking signs…Perfect!! We wrote a nice note and stuck it in the window. We walked about 8 blocks to check out the Arch. After some fun pictures we headed out. At this point we got on I-70 west. This is the same road all the way through the rocky mountains!! We made it as far as Hays Kansas. We pulled in dog tired around midnight!! Nothing like a 15 hour day on the road...lots of corn and sunflowers in Kansas!!

Dark Truder?

As we are driving we hook up our sirrus satellite radio that we borrowed from ,our buddy Dean(thanks man). While trying to figure out how to navigate this cool little device we come across what sounded like an episode of sponge bob square pants!! Now since we don’t have kids our exposure to sponge bob is very small. Well needless to say we got quite involve in the story of how Dark Truder was going to steal a constilation and therefore make it hard for sailors to use the stars to navigate. It was quite compelling! So compelling that we decided to name the blog after it!!
One other thing of interest was we wanted to know just how much stuff we were hauling. We pulled onto the Cat Scales at the truck stop just outside of Nashville Tn. Would you believe that our little caravan weighed in at 16000 lbs!! I need to work out!! The cool part fuel prices are dropping. 3.99/gallon for diesel.

Our avg. MPG is approx. 11.2

We arrive, what a jumpin town!! We started our search for a hip and happening night spot. Room 118 at the Best Western proved to be it!!!

Bed time1:30am

friday night driving

Of course traffic sux in the ATL. But we managed to get through it and head up 75 north towards Chattanooga. First order of business is to fuel ourselves!! Arbys in Cartersville was our choice of cuisine for this evening!! Man Ill tell ya their Market Fresh sandwiches are really good!! Chicken salad with apples, grapes, and almonds……..wow!! Dez enjoyed her rubin as well. Back in the truck and off we go. Our goal was to get to Paducah Ky. Were in the hell is Paducah?? It seemed as if everyone we told about this place had been there! I guess I am out of the loop!! Not for long!!

Oh sh*t the trailer

OK, back on track…The trip. With everything ready to go we still needed to get a trailer. The first 2 trailers we arranged fell through. Next I arrange to buy one from my neighbor. He tells me to check it out before we agree on a price because its old and hasn’t been moved for 4 years. Not a good sign!!! Well after a very short inspection we find out the frame of the trailer is rusted beyond repair and is actually broken!! NEXT! Finally while telling my story to Albert at 4wheel parts he hooks me up with a friend and a trailer!! Hurray!! It looks like we are going to make it!!
Down to the wire we get everything done, loaded and hit the road at 5:45 pm on Friday afternoon the 5th.

take a second for thanks

On that note I would like to take a second to that a few people for making this trip possible.
Desiree- for putting up with me for the last month as my stress levels reached spontaneous combustion levels.

Chris Legault- I don’t even know were to start with this guy!! If it were not for him so many things In my life would not happen. He truly is a God send!! Over the last several years he has given countless hours of his time to us and THE SHOP. And I do mean countless!! THANK YOU CHRISTIAN. WE LOVE YOU MAN!!!!

Will Sears-This guy….man again what can I say….my life wouldn’t be the same with out him. We am truly blessed to have a friend in my life like Will. Thanks for everything you do. We love you man!!

Mom-My rock. ;o) Thanks mom. I love you.

Shane-My little bro, always there for me when I need him. Maybe a little bitching in there but always comes through!! I love you.

THE SHOP Patrons- Thanks for giving us a try and trusting us with you Vehicles. You all have kept my dreams alive. Hopefully you will read this and see our passion for one of the things that most americans hold dear, our cars and the freedom they give us to explore our great land.

preperations!!

Well as the 5th drew closer we started to think about a lot of things……….like can we do this, should we do this? Well those of you who know me well know that “come hell or high water” we are going!!! The first thing we started to think about was do we really want to drive approx. 30 hours in our beloved Discovery, risk damage and breakage and then drive another 30 hours home!!! Considering that we will drive approx. 4500 miles over the next two weeks we decided to look for a suitable tow vehicle and trailer. After a very short search on the internet we found and bought a 2002 Ford f350 crew cab dually with the almighty 7.3 liter diesel engine. Of course I would never just buy a vehicle and head out for a trans continental trip with the proper preventative maintenance. Ok well this means different things to different people as I have learned in my current line of work(car repair shop owner)!! We changed ALL the fluids, filters, hoses, checked the jack and spare tire, then threw on a new set of brakes. Good to go!!
Next would be getting the Discovery ready to go. Well it needed a good refreshing up after 105 thousand miles. To me that meant going through the engine and checking all the other fluids/systems. First I knew the head gaskets were leaking and Moab was not were I wanted to test my luck with an over heat!! I decided to replace the head gaskets. This turned out to be just the beginning!! Desiree wanted in on the job! Yes boys and girls Desiree jumped in and disassembled the engine for me!! Does she kick ass or what?! While we were at it we changed the timing cover and chain, oil pan gasket, radiator, water pump, all coolant hoses, lifters, throttle plate gasket, thermostat, all fluids, belt, and pulleys. Ahhhhhhhh that’s much better!! Now she’s ready to go!! Oh I forgot there were a few other things on my list to get the truck ready….The winch did not work, front lights not wired up, cb antenna needed to be relocated and my wheel flares needed to be reattached!! Just a few small things at the last minute to add to the stress level!!!! Well with the help a good friend we got it all done in time and even added a few cool things like an onboard co2 tank for airing up the tires as well as a dash mounted winch control switch!! Sweet

Were going to Moab I think!

Well this thought was put in my head earlier this year at a local SOLAROS meeting. When I heard the National Land Rover Rally was to be held in Moab this year I knew it was time for a road trip!! This blog is to share our trip with friends and family. I hope you enjoy it!!!

Here is the plan.....We are hoping to leave Friday the 5th of Sept.
We hope to arrive in moab Sunday afternoon .
Monday thru Wednesday we will Mountain bike and explore Moab.
Thursday morning the 11th we load up and head for Salt Lake City, Utah to catch a flight to Vancouver........Why? more mountain bikng in Whistler!!!
We will return to Utah on Monday the 15th.
Tuesday morning the 16th we will head back to Moab for the Land Rover Rally
Friday afternoon the 19th we will head for the ATL.

Sound like fun? We think so!! ;o)